Dennis Ombachi made his name as a rugby sevens star, scoring tries and showing incredible speed while on the pitch.

In recent years he has, however, become a household name on social media under the name ‘The Roaming Chef.’

With over 900,000 followers on Instagram and 2 million on Tiktok, his recipes have skyrocketed him to international fame with celebrities such as Kelly Rowland from Destiny’s Child seen commenting on his videos where he prepares local and international dishes.

Ombachi was recently crowned the best TikTok content creator in Sub-Saharan Africa, an award he says came as a pleasant surprise.

“It came as a surprise and a shocker…it makes me want to make better content. I was bursting with emotion but kept my composure. I’m thankful that being a successful rugby player prepared me for such events and winning awards but it was a big one for me and I want to thank everyone who voted for me,” he said.

Asked how he managed to make the transition from rugby to creating content, Ombachi said he has always believed in discipline and consistency, which cut across all spheres of life.

“Being an athlete allowed me to perform under pressure in a very competitive environment.

“I learnt discipline and consistency as an athlete and I apply the same in content creation,” he said.

Self-taught chef

Ombachi labels himself a self-taught chef, admitting that it took a lot of trial and error to perfect his recipes

“We used to travel out of the country a lot when we were playing rugby and fell in love with cooking.

“I loved sampling different types of food and with time I began trying to prepare some of those dishes. With practice I got better and here I am now,” he said.

He also advised upcoming content creators to focus on informing, educating and entertaining.

“For me, it’s about creating content that everyone around the world can relate to, not everything will go your way but keep posting. Things will not happen overnight, one step at a time and always put in effort, the secret is to keep pushing.”

Asked about his ‘unique’ dancing style, Ombachi, whose wife is a Zumba instructor, said he has all the moves planned out in his head but the execution often lets him down.

“The way I dance in my head does not relate to what you see…in my head, I am a good dancer,” he says.

On his future plans, he said he will keep producing content and intends to open a restaurant in the near future, as well as pursue his passion for carpentry.